Air conditioning unit



Feb; '11, 1941. CARSON 2,231,797

AIR counr'rrouru UNIT Filed Jan. 24-, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 11,1941.

c. c. CARSON AIR CONDITIONING UNIT 2 Sheets-Shee t 2 Filed Jah. 24,19:58

Patented Feb. 11, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,231,791 AIRCONDITIONING UNIT Clifford C. Carson, St. Louis, Mo. Application January24, 1938, Serial No. 186,714

7 Claims.

This invention relates to air conditioning units and, among otherobjects, aims to provide a relatively simple, rugged and economicalconvertible heating and cooling unit employing a single heat exchangerfor both winter and summer air conditioning. The main idea is to providea dependable convertible unit of the type employing the well knownAirblanket principle disclosed in my prior Patents Nos. 1,820,779;1,820,780; 1,820,893; 2,001,834; 2,076,339; 2,093,306 and- 2,093,349 aswell as my pending application Ser. No. 130,575, flied March 12, 1937.

vOther aims and advantages of the invention will appear in thespecification, when considered 5 in connection with the accompanyingdrawings,

wherein:

Fig. 1 is a' diagrammatic sectional view of a building showing two unitsinstalled therein with the broken lines indicating the direction of air20 currents for heating and cooling merely for illustrative purposes;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of a unit embodying the invention;

Fig. 3 is'a side elevation of the unit; and 23 Fig. 4 is a sectionalview taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2. I

The embodiment of the apparatus here shown is primarily designed todeliver conditioned air into a room or enclosure and to distribute theair 30 substantially uniformly throughout the inhabitable portion of theroom as well as to increase the heat exchanging efilciency. As explainedin the aforesaid patents and application, when the apparatus is used asa heating unit, it has provi- 35 sion for discharging a" stream orstratum of air at relatively high velocity in the form of a.confiningcurtain above and adjacent to a conditioned or heated air stream'whichis directed towardor into the space to be heated. The air 49 curtainprevents the lighter heated air from rising rapidly above theinhabitable area and causes it to circulate throughout the area. Whenthe unit is converted into a'summer air cooler, it employs a similar aircurtain which is discharged 45 below a stream of cooled air and servesto distribute the cooled air more uniformly. The air. curtain sustainsthe cooled air suflicientlyto prevent it from falling precipitately tothe fioor and causing cold spots as well as stratification of cold 50air at the floor, The invention provides means for converting theunitinto a heater or cooler by directing the confining or sustainingcurtain above or below the conditioned stream of air and also forcontrollingthe direction of discharge of 55 the conditioned stream.

Referring to Fig. 1, two suspension units it! and H are shown in abuilding l2 representing a factory. The unit I0 is shown as beingemployed as a heater and the broken lines indicate the general,direction of theseparate streams is- 5 suing therefrom, the arrowsrepresenting the confining air curtain. The unit H is shown merely forillustration as being converted into an air cooler. The arrows leadingfrom it represent the sustaining air curtain.

Referring to Figs. 2, 3 and 4, the unit there shown is like the onesshown in Fig. 1. However, it is to be understood that the invention isnot limited to units of the suspension type but may be embodied in floorunits and many other types. In this example, the unit has a generallyrectangular casing |3 preferably made of sheet metal. It is open at thefront and back and has ears or lugs I4 at its opposite sides to receivesuspension rods I5. It is also shown as having rearwardly bentpartitions l6 and H inside of the upper and lower walls cooperating withspaced partitions l8 and I9 extending across the casing to produce upperand lower air passages or by-pass channels 20 and 2|. The upper passageis shown as being directed downwardly at an angle to the horizontal andthe lower passage upwardly at an angle to the horizontal. Within thecasing between the partitions l8 and I3, there is shown a conventionalheat exchanger comprising headers 22 and 23 to which are connectedcirculating tubes 24 having the usual heat exchanging fins 25. Air isadapted to be blown into heat exchanging contact with the tubes andtheir heat exchanging fins by a suitable fan 26 shown as being driven byan electric motor 21 mounted on a shelf 28 which is supported by a frame29 secured to the back wall of the casing. The rear portion of thecasing provides a plenum chamber from which the air is delivered throughthe exchanger and the passages 20 and 2|.

The air emerging from the unit is directed into the room or .enclosurethrough pivoted louvres 30 arranged between the forward ends of thepartitions 8 and I9 and connected by links 3| to a vertical bar 32 to beoperated by a pivoted lever 33 so that they may be adjusted as shown inFig. 4 either to direct the air downwardly or upwardly at an angle tothe horizontal, depending upon whether the unit is used as a heater orcooler. I

The air, conduits or passages 20 and 2| for delivering the air curtainsare shown as being controlled by dampers 34 and 35, respectively, ar-

ranged at their inner ends and they are interconnected by pivoted links38, 3l-and a strap metal bar 38 which, in turn, is connected to beoperated by the lever 33 simultaneously with the louvres 30. Thearrangement is such that one of the dampers opens its air passage whilethe other closes its passage in the plenum chamber and they rotate inthe opposite direction from that of the louvres. The bar 38 is shown ashaving a pin 39 projecting into an elongated slot ll in the lever topermit relative swinging movement without binding. The free end of thelever is shown as terminating in a point to indicate the position of thelouvres and the dampers. At the upper extreme of its movement thelouvres and dampers are in proper position toconvert the unit into aheater for winter use. The letter W on the casing wall opposite the endof the lever indicates the winter position and the letter S at the otherextreme of the movement of the lever indicates the summer position. Thelever is adapted to be held in its adjusted position by means of a wingnut 4| on a bolt 42 which operates in an arcuate slot 43. .Thus, it willbe seen that it is only necessary to move the lever from one extreme tothe other or adjust it properly to direct the air streams in the desireddirection and convert the unit into either a heater or a cooler. Itwill, of course, be understood, that steam or any other suitable heatingmedium may be employed in the heat exchanger for heating purposes; whilecold water or any suitable cooling .the curtain so that it is fluid or arefrigerant may be used for cooling purposes. The fluid is circulatedthrough the heater by means 01' an inlet pipe 44 and an outlet pipe 45connected to the upper and lower headers respectively.

. when the unit is used for cooling, any water of condensation whichcollects onthe tubes and headers will drain to the bottom into a channel46 formed by the lower partition I! and, thence, through a drain pipe41. This arrangement prevents the water from dripping into the passage2| and being carried outgby the sustaining air curtain. If the unit isused as a heater and it is desired to introduce some moisture into theheated air, the trough or channel 46 below the header 23 may be suppliedwith water so that the water-vapor rising therefrom will mix wi h thecurrent of conditioned or heated air.

Referring again to the relative arrangement the parts, Fig. 4 shows thepositiom of the louvres and the dampers when the unit has been convertedinto a heater. The confining stream or curtain of relatively highvelocity and relatively cold air is then discharged through the nozzleof conduit 2| above the louvres. In this instance, it is directeddownwardly at an angle to the horizontal because of the suspendedposition of the unit so that'the curtain is projected toward theinhabitable portion of the building. The louvres are likewise adjustedto discharge the conditioned or heated air downwardly at, substantiallythe same angle to the horizontal and parallel with confined by thecurtain to circulate in the inhabitable space and will give 'up a .verysubstantial portion of its contained, heat, before it is permitted torise through the,

curtain and/or mix with the air in the curtain.

When the'lmit is converted into a cooler, the

louvres and the dampers are adjusted to the dotted line positions shownin Fig. 4, so that the cooled and/or dehumidifled air will discharge upwardly at an acute angle'to the horizontal into the space to be cooledand the sustaining curtain of air is discharged substantiallvparallelwith it' from the nozzle of the passage II. This is desirable because ofthe greater density of the cooled air. In both cases, room air isrecirculated through the curtain es. However, it is contemplated thatoutside air and/or a mixture of room air and outside air may be used forthis purpose, as clearly disclosed in some of the aforesaid patents.Moreover, the dampers and louvres may be adjusted to their intermediatepositions to discharge confining air curtains or streamsone above andthe other below the conditioned stream to prevent eddy currents andotherwise improve the distribution of the conditioned air.

Obviously, the present invention is not re stricted to the particularembodiment thereof herein shown and described. Moreover, it is notindispensable that all the features of the invention be used conjointly,since they may be employed advantageously in various combinations andsub-combinations. The scope of the invention will be determined by thechains.

What is claimed is:

1. An air conditioning unit comprising, in combination, a casing; a fanmounted in said casing; a heat exchangen within the casing; a by-passchannel above the heat exchanger; a by-pass channel below the heatexchanger; -a single control means to open one by-pass channel and closeprising, in combination, a casing providing a substantially rectangularpassage having upper and lower partitions Joined by vertical side walls;means for producing a stream of air through said passage; means tochange the temperature of a portion of the air passing therethrough;means to by-pass a portion of the air passing therethrough without achange in its temperature; and manually operable means for directing theby-passed or unconditioned air either above or below said stream ofconditioned air.

3. A unit air conditioner of the class described 45 comprising, incombination, a casing; a fan connected to move a stream of air throughsaid casing; a heat exchanger within the casing; a

'neously operable damper means to cause a portion of the air deliveredby the fan to pass through either of the nomles and be projected intothe room or space to be conditioned, without its temperature beingchanged by the heat exchanger. 5

4. A umt air conditioner of the character described comprising, incombination, a casing; a fan mounted onthe casing to move airtherethrough; means to divide the stream of air produced by the Ian intotwo independent streams .f discharging through separate outlets; meanseither to heat or cool the air in one of said streams; and manuallyoperable means for controlling the two streams 01 air one above theother so that the upper stream is always colder than the lower. "5;Apparatus of the class described comprising a; heat exchanger; means forproducing a stream or air flowing therethrough; means for simul-.taneously producing a separate stream of air either above or below thestream issuing from the heat exchanger; means for controlling saidsecond stream to make it project either above or belowsaidiirstmentioned stream; and means to control the direction of flowot-said streams. 7

6. Air conditioning apparatus comprising, in combination, a casing; airmoving means, heat transfer means; and moisture collecting and drainagemeans, all housed in said casing and so disposed relative to each otheras to produce a central stream of air the condition of which is changedby passage over the members of the heat transfer means; means to alterthe direction of discharge 0! said stream; means to produce a separate,adjacent curtain-like stream of all, the temperature of which isunaflected by passage through theapparatus; and manually operable meansfor directing the curtain-like stream either above or below theconditioned stream.

7. A unit air conditioner oi the class described changing means withinthe casing; a fan directing a stream of air through the casing; twobypass conduits in the casing, one above and the other below said heatexchanging means; and means to control the flow of air therethrough sothat a confining stream of air may be delivered either above a heatedstream or below a cooled stream issuing from said heat exchanger.,

CLIFFORD C. CARSON.

